Responding to the Care Quality Commission’s report on the state of health care and adult social care in England, an LGA spokesman said:

“Councils work closely with local care providers to try to continuously improve services for people who rely on care and their carers.

“We know that more still needs to be done. We want all people who need care and support to have access to the best quality, safe services whether they are in a care home or a hospital so they can return home sooner and live safely in the community for longer. To do this, councils and health partners need to work with providers to ensure that well supported and trained staff are working to put people at the centre of decisions about their needs and support.

“In the period of the current Parliament, local government funding has been cut by 40 per cent and councils will have to have made £20 billion worth of savings. As a result, councils have had to reduce adult social care budgets by more than £3.5 billion since 2010. So far, services have been protected as much as possible, but this is becoming an increasing challenge for councils in the face of growing cuts.”